Not a lot to it at all - filling out the paperwork is the hardest part.

<-Rule 12 hs'ers here._________________"The greatest sign of success for a teacher... is to be able to say, "The children are now working as if I did not exist."
- M. MontessoriProud non-member of the HSLDA

I'm a "rule 13er" I guess, but I came close to filing Rule 12, just because I like the wording better. I am Christian, but the two separate rules seem silly to me. Rule 12 effectively covers the same thing. _________________Homeschool news and opinion:
http://principleddiscovery.com

I chose rule 12 because I felt that according to the principles of those around us, we are not Christian. I don't hit my children in the name of the Lord, I don't hide behind organizations that support and tolerate bigotry, discrimination, and hatred. Filing as a philosophical exemption meant that we had more power to choose and were less defined by those around us.

I realize this came out harsher than I intended it to. It stems a bit from the feelings I had after joining a homeschool group here and leaving it shortly after. It wasn't meant as an insult to you - just a reasoning for why we do what we do._________________"The greatest sign of success for a teacher... is to be able to say, "The children are now working as if I did not exist."
- M. MontessoriProud non-member of the HSLDA

I chose rule 12 because I felt that according to the principles of those around us, we are not Christian. I don't hit my children in the name of the Lord, I don't hide behind organizations that support and tolerate bigotry, discrimination, and hatred. Filing as a philosophical exemption meant that we had more power to choose and were less defined by those around us.

Interesting. I guess I don't define my religious preferences by opposing groups. My understanding is that it is a religious exemption, which covers mainstream Christians, fundamentalists, Muslims and even pagans for that matter.

The reason it seems odd to me in general is that, while I am Christian and my faith is an important aspect of our homeschooling, my beliefs do not really preclude public education. Public education just makes it harder to live them out as a family. My objection really is more philosophical...just a philosophy that happens to be influenced by my faith.

I chose rule 12 because I felt that according to the principles of those around us, we are not Christian. I don't hit my children in the name of the Lord, I don't hide behind organizations that support and tolerate bigotry, discrimination, and hatred. Filing as a philosophical exemption meant that we had more power to choose and were less defined by those around us.

I realize this came out harsher than I intended it to. It stems a bit from the feelings I had after joining a homeschool group here and leaving it shortly after. It wasn't meant as an insult to you - just a reasoning for why we do what we do.

Why let others principles define you? It's obvious that you are bitter but try not to take it out on Christians as a whole. Then you may begin to look like the very people you're resentful toward.

Why let others principles define you? It's obvious that you are bitter but try not to take it out on Christians as a whole. Then you may begin to look like the very people you're resentful toward.

I haven't let them define me. I simply haven't let them pigeonhole me and stereotype me. Faith is something lived, not branded on our foreheads. I'm not going to get into a p!ssing contest of who is more modest, or whether we should allow everyone the same basic rights. The first isn't an issue for me - I don't care if you wear skirts all the time and deem me unworthy for wearing low rise jeans. The second shouldn't be an issue at all. I'm not into the group mentality of "our type of Christian or nothing at all".

That's why I chose to define my homeschool as NOT labeled._________________"The greatest sign of success for a teacher... is to be able to say, "The children are now working as if I did not exist."
- M. MontessoriProud non-member of the HSLDA

I am tired of my extremely bright children (ages 13, 11, 8, and 5) being dumbed (Is that even a word?) down by the school system. My wife and I are moving our business home to home school our kids at the end of the current school year. I really need help! Any advice would be appreciated. Where do I start? Lesson plans, schedules, etc. Thanks for your help in advance.

You might want to start with a local homeschool group and the library. Yahoo is great at finding a group in town or even just in the county. That will help you see what is available for co-ops, field trips, and play dates during the school day. The library should have a few different books on styles of schooling to help you figure out what's best for your family (and that will probably change over the next few months or years).

After that, the forms for filing are available here. Reading the above conversation, you can see the difference between the two.

We create our own curriculum, but if you're looking for something complete you might want to try homeschoolreviews.com to see most of what's out there. As far as the rest........keep reading different sites and keep your mind open. There's a wealth of information out there._________________"The greatest sign of success for a teacher... is to be able to say, "The children are now working as if I did not exist."
- M. MontessoriProud non-member of the HSLDA

Just wanted to update you all. Things are going great. It's not as difficult or as stressful as I thought. I enjoy it very much, and they do too._________________Homeschoolers aren't freaks, we just care about what our kids are exposed to; you should too.